1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dryer vent exhaust duct system, and, more specifically, to an anti-torsion dryer connection that relieves the torsional forces created during installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dryer vent connections are well known and are used to connect the exhaust vent from a typical household clothes dryer to an exterior exhaust vent positioned on the outside of a home or building. A flexible duct is typically used to connect the dryer exhaust vent to the exterior vent. A common type of flexible duct is a corrugated metal duct capable of axial extension. Elbows and/or sleeve couplers are often mounted to the ends of the flexible duct. One disadvantage of using corrugated metal duct is that it becomes loaded with torsional forces as it is extended to meet the normally tortuous path from the clothes dryer to the exterior vent.
One solution to the build-up of torsional forces is to provide the end of the flexible duct with elbow connectors that swivel relative to the duct. Thus, any twisting of the duct imparted by torsional forces due to axial extension is compensated by the rotation of the sleeve relative to the elbow. Depending on the length of the duct run, it has been helpful to provide an elbow with a swivel sleeve connection at both ends of the duct. However, the dual elbow solution is not suitable for every installation. For example, depending on the location of the exterior duct, it may not be possible to mate an elbow to the exterior duct because of space limitations. Additionally, the extra elbow is relatively expensive compared to the total cost of the duct.